Perth Glory 0-2 Celtic: Lennon puts Kayal in cotton wool after broken nose during Australian clash

Kayal was caught by the elbow of Perth's Adam Hughes in the 28th minute, bringing his game to an end.

The Israeli is expected to be fit for Celtic's Clydesdale Bank Premier League opener against Hibernian at Easter Road on 24 July.

"He got a broken nose, and we don't want to take any chances with him," said Lennon. "We will wait until he gets fit again. He may play the next game here - or he may not be involved until we are back in the UK."

On Celtic's win, which was secured by goals from Gary Hooper and Charlie Mulgrew, Lennon said: "We played well. We were very, very bright tonight.

"We started the game very well and that's what we're looking for; a better start than we had last week (at Central Coast Mariners], but I felt that with the week's preparation that the players would be better for it and that proved to be the case."

Ian Ferguson's Perth side featured six new players in their starting 11 and lacked any real bite against the visitors.

With the Old Firm rivalry never far from the surface in these overseas jaunts, a group of Rangers fans tried to anger Celtic and their supporters by organising a plane to fly over the stadium just 30 minutes before kick-off trailing a sign boasting about Rangers' three consecutive Scottish Premier League titles.

Lennon took the caper in good humour: "You'd think they'd have better things to do following their team in Germany (for their pre-season tour] than pay a lot of money to annoy us."

At the whistle, Celtic set about their task with zeal, fuelled by crosses into the Perth box from Kris Commons for Hooper and Anthony Stokes, both policed by an attentive defence.

However, persistence paid off, as captain Scott Brown and Mark Wilson tested keeper Danny Vukovic with headers, and Stokes and Commons hefting dangerous free kicks into the Perth penalty area.

On the 16th minute, Glenn Loovens sent the ball over the top of the hosts' defence to find Hooper, who beat the offside trap to run at Vukovic and slide the ball under the keeper and into the net.

"I felt sharp," Hooper commented after the game. "I'm nearly there after all the training out here.

"With a couple more games I should be ready to start the season - and getting on the scoresheet at this stage is a bonus."

Ex-Ranger Ferguson's men rallied after Celtic's opener, as former Celtic and Hibs midfielder Liam Miller set up Mile Sterjokvski with a chip into the box, but the veteran Australia internationalist was unable to beat Lukasz Zaluska.

The 28th minute aerial clash between Kayal and Hughes robbed the first half of its momentum, and the Israeli, furious with Perth's rough tactics, was replaced by Sean Maloney after five minutes of treatment.

However, the Scot was instrumental in bringing the game back to life shortly after the interval with his pressure, breaking down the left to create another chance for Stokes that Vukovic blocked.

Perth's early second half pressure came from Hughes, who unleashed a 30-yard drive towards the Celtic goal that had an unsuspecting Zaluska scrambling to his right to push the ball over the bar.

On 50 minutes, Celtic struck to double their lead.

Substitute Ki Sung-Yeung sent a free kick into the box from the left which set up Mulgrew for a header into the far corner of the Perth net.

"The second goal gave us breathing space to knock the ball about a bit," said Lennon.

The game seemed to lose its appeal for the home side after the second goal, allowing Lennon to field more of his substitutes.

Paddy McCourt replaced Hooper just after the hour and joined Stokes and Joe Ledley in their attacks.

Tempers frayed midway through the second half when Brown was the victim of a hefty challenge from Jacob Burns. Referee Green declined to red card Burns despite Celtic's protestations.

The visitors' high defensive line continued to frustrate Perth, and it was not until the dying minutes of the game they troubled the Glasgow side.

A ricochet on the edge of the area set Alex Caniglia up with a shot on goal which went astray, while Loovens denied the home side a consolation goal as Adam Teggert raced into the area to strike.

After the game, Ferguson said: "I told my players that they won't play as team as good as that in the A-League.

"Celtic are a quality side and you can see just how well they move the ball about and how structured they are. They are a very good team."

"We are still 12 weeks away from our season starting, and Celtic are two-to-three weeks away from matches starting in their league, so you could see the difference in the fitness levels

"They're a big, physical, strong side that play well. For them to come here was a great experience for us." On the bloody encounter between Hughes and Kayal, he said: "That's what football's all about - you give some out and you take some.

"The players were big enough and ugly enough just to get on with it."

Lennon, whose side head to Melbourne and an encounter with A League Victory on Wednesday, said: "We're only two weeks away from the start of the season so we emphasised to the players that it's not long before the season starts and we need to try and get up to speed as quickly as possible, which is a big ask considering that they're only been back 14 or 15 days themselves and have had a lot of travelling in between that."

The visit to Melbourne will be a homecoming of sorts for Greek striker Georgios Samaras, who will captain Celtic at AAMI Park on Wednesday.

Samaras's father Ioannis was born in the city before moving to Greece aged 13 in 1974.

The one-time Panathinaikos player was capped for Greece 16 times and his father, Georgios, was a co-founder of South Melbourne FC.

"I hear that Melbourne Victory are a very big club, so I'm looking forward to them next Wednesday," Samaras told the Herald Sun newspaper.

The forward, who has played for his country more than 40 times, added: "We were together four years ago in Australia with the national team at the MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground] … that will be nice to be back in Melbourne to play again, except this time with the Hoops."

Meanwhile, Celtic have confirmed the signing of 20-year-old Kenyan Victor Wanyama on a four-year deal.

The player signed following Celtic's successful appeal to the Scottish Football Association over his work permit on Friday.

Wanyama, who has joined Celtic as a centre-back in a deal worth some 1 million, had to wait in Belgium for the UK Border Agency to rubber-stamp the SFA's decision.

Perth Glory: Vukovic; Neville, Van Den Brink, Mitchell, Howarth; Hughes, Burns (Quaqua 85); Dodd (Amphlett 83) Miller (McGarry 45) Stejokvski (Caniglia 54); Smeltz (Teggert 45).

Celtic: Zaluska; M. Wilson (Cha 45), K. Wilson, Loovens, Mulgrew; Brown (Matthews 83), Kayal (Maloney 34), Ledley, Commons (Ki 45); Hooper (McCourt 64) Stokes (Murphy 71). Subs not used: Cervi, Majstorovic, Samaras